New Ground. All of their coffees are top class.
Dark Arts for nostalgia purposes. I know the founder and would buy wholesale bags of their only blend when it was just him and a Diedrich in a railway arch in Homerton.
Rave because I’ve bought so many kg’s of the Chatswood blend and it never gets old.
I’ve been enjoying Foundry Coffee Roasters recently.
notable ones I have tried recently - Kiss the Hippo, Foundry, Extract, Rave, Ozone, Coffee by the Casuals, Origin, Black cat
Have another delivery arriving this week of some more. The standard of a lot of these uk roasteries are very high from my purchases so far. Picking a favourite is very difficult
Has anyone ever tried anything from Stumptown? Based in Oregon it’s pricey to get it shipped to the UK but if it lives up to the hype I’d be tempted.
I stay local and use a guy I found during the first lockdown called Milk & Beans (https://milkandbeans.coffee/) based in Milton Keynes (awesome branding as that’s what locals call MK). Awesome guy who I spend a good amount of time chatting to every couple of weeks when I receive my next delivery as he’s always willing to give tips and support. I’ve settled on his core Columbian (El Carmen). I now get a knock on the door every other Friday with my fresh roasts from that morning.
I might have a try of some of the others I see recommended on here at some point but for the service I feel I’ll always come back.
Dusk I’m pretty new to the coffee game and had only had supermarket/high-street chain coffee packs before this but highly recommend him. Depending how local, he also does the Sunday market in Olney with his stall and you can collect your orders from there for free if not within the free delivery area.
Ernie1 Small world. Yeah Carlo is awesome, I was buying pre-name change and we said it’s crazy the name already wasn’t taken by any of the independent cafés. He’s had some really nice handmade cups created by a local guy too, just trying to convince the wife we need some as they’re more than she would spend on cups haha.
Dusk Defo, I’ve been meaning to go for a while, just far too lazy on a Sunday haha.
I keep going back to Foundy recently. Great quality, with a roast level that suits me, and top notch service. A few months back they had a batch that was not optimally roasted and wrote to people who might have been affected offering to replace it - frankly the roast was still a 7/10 and I reckon most roasters wouldn’t have been that honest so they’ve got my loyalty. I have a bag of Rocko Mountain coming from them tomorrow.
Thumbs up for Cartwheel and Square Mile too, and I keep meaning to try Assembly for espresso but so far have only used them for pour over (and liked it a lot).
Currently my favorite roaster is Verve Coffee in Santa Cruz. I went to grad school at UCSC and have fond memories of my time there. They have a few cafes around the bay area but the actual roaster is in an old cannery and shares the space with Beckmann’s bakery and Pacific Edge rock climbing gym. I spent a lot of time there when I was living down that way so it comes with fond memories.
I revisited a bag of Django El Salvador beans today and the espresso was superb, best I’ve pulled in a few weeks.
I don’t know if they are my fav roaster or even if I have one, but for sub £25 a kg delivered the bang per bean is superb.
Only downside is they don’t have a huge selection.
Right now, I am enjoying Smith Street roasters. If you sign up with them, at the start of every month (the offer came today) they send out a deal. This month it is spend £20 and receive 20% off which is quite canny. I have their decaf, Five Arches which is really tasty
dfk41 It’s good to hear about these sorts of deals, I think that’s the advantage of keeping your eyes peeled. There are many people who use a subscription service and tend to miss out on some great deals because they are not looking. Like that great deal on Kg bags from that Scottish roaster some weeks ago now.
LMSC You need to sign up with them, then each month they send you something to consider. I could give you the code but without joining, it will not work
LMSC Pleasure, if you do not get a code with their welcome, email me and I will forward the email I received
